Thankful
by Terp4Life
Summary: Thanksgiving inspired Jeller. Mostly fluff, and a little cheesy... At first it was a one shot, set after episode 109 but before 110. Then around Thanksgiving while watching s2 a year later, I decided that it needed an update. As far as s3 goes... we'll see... :)
1. First Thanksgiving

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Blindspot. I'm just borrowing the fantastic characters so I can play with them a little bit.**_

 _Author's Note: So yesterday I was on my way home with groceries for all the things I'm making for Thanksgiving tomorrow, and I suddenly thought "Too bad Blindspot had the mid season finale already and didn't get to incorporate Thanksgiving" (because these days I'm thinking about Blindspot most of the time, I'm not gonna lie). My next thought was that I wanted to write a Thanksgiving one-shot. In all of the fanfic I've written, I've never written a one-shot. My previous shortest story is 16 chapters long! So I don't know how this turned out, and I'll be the first to admit that it's mostly fluff, but I hope that you enjoy it. It takes place after 109 but before 110, in that space where Jane and Kurt are now really close, but she hasn't kissed him. Or been captured. Or... any of the rest of it... Oh man, it's gonna be a long wait til February... Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving to all of my readers in the US, and to everyone else... have a great Thursday!_

It was a Wednesday night, and the team had spent the day chasing the clues from another one of Jane's tattoos, surviving yet another close call. That day alone, they'd ended up in a car chase, some hand to hand combat, had guns pointed at them and had narrowly escaped a warehouse fire on top of everything else. In the end, though, they were all still alive. All four of them had been discharged by the paramedics that checked them out not long before, and Mayfair had debriefed them and told them to go home and get some sleep. They would be sore the next day, Weller and Jane especially. Somehow, as usual, those two seemed to have been magnets for danger.

Jane and Zapata were in the locker room already, collecting their belongings and getting ready to head out to their respective destinations, when Reade wandered in, followed a minute later by Weller. As soon as the men arrived, Reade and Zapata began were bantering back and forth, as they usually did, and even Weller couldn't help but smile at the cracks they were making about each other. The two really were pretty funny. Lately, lots of times Jane would join in giving Reade a hard time, to Zapata's delight and Reade's mock annoyance – it was pretty obvious that he didn't actually mind the good natured teasing from either woman. Weller had been thinking that it was nice to see Jane coming out of her shell in the past few weeks. It hadn't been too terribly long ago that they'd found her in Times Square, and now it felt like she was a part of the team, almost as if she'd always been one of them.

But today Jane wasn't saying anything to Reade, or to anyone else. No, today Jane had seemed a little… off. He'd thought that he was imagining it earlier, but the feeling had only grown stronger throughout the day. Weller hadn't quite identified what the problem was, but there was something not quite right with her. Which, of course, meant that he was determined to figure out what it was.

"So," Zapata began as she shut her locker, putting on her black leather jacket and pushing her bag onto her shoulder, "do we wanna place bets on whether we can make it through the day tomorrow without having to rush back and save the world?"

Reade shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Don't jinx it," he groaned. "If we make it _one day_ without getting called in, I'll be shocked. The whole Thanksgiving weekend? That's just _not_ gonna happen."

"We've worked _every single holiday_ since we've been on this team," Zapata said emphatically, turning to look at Weller, pretending to be annoyed with him as their team leader – as if it were his fault they worked on holidays, "whether we were scheduled to be off or not. Mayfair promised that we could have a break this time, for once."

Kurt understood the frustration his teammates were feeling, even if they were taking it pretty well. He didn't necessarily want to work every holiday either, but he was realistic when it came to their workload. As much as they might love the idea of having a four day weekend, the odds of it happening, whatever Mayfair may or may not have promised them, seemed slim to none in his eyes. After all, working for the FBI was always going to be intense and unpredictable, and ever since they'd found Jane… well, you just couldn't predict when they'd get a hit in the "tattoo database," as Patterson called it. The people they dealt with in their line of work didn't take holidays off, so that meant that usually, they couldn't either.

Weller had been shaking his head in amusement at Reade and Zapata as they continued their back and forth jabs. That was when he glanced at Jane, standing at her locker and suddenly looking stricken, far more noticeably upset than she had been up to that point that day. She gripped the narrow metal door tightly with one hand, and the metal frame on the other side of her locker with the other. Somehow, Kurt knew that she wouldn't want to talk about whatever was causing her such distress in front of the other two, so he said nothing for the moment. Luckily for him, Reade and Zapata were ready to say their goodbyes, and they headed out through the locker room door together, arguing the whole way about how many days of the four day weekend they'd manage to go without seeing each other's ugly faces when they were called into work. Their voices faded quickly as they left, leaving silence in their wake.

Kurt turned back to Jane, who was still standing at her locker, her fingers now curled even more tightly around the locker door, color draining from her knuckles from the pressure with which she was holding on. She was focused a spot on the floor, appearing to be making less of an effort to hide the turmoil of whatever was bothering her now that the other two were gone.

She knew that he was watching her, but she'd used up most of her energy in the past few minutes, pretending in front of Reade and Zapata that everything was fine. Besides, she wouldn't be able to fool Kurt and she knew it. She had no doubt that he'd already figured out that something was wrong.

He glanced around, seeing that they were now alone in the room, before taking a step closer to her, which, considering that there hadn't been a lot of space between them in the first place, meant that he was now standing only inches away from her. "Jane?" he asked quietly, looking down at her with concern. He'd only said her name, but it was a question as well, and she knew it. What's more, he knew that she knew it. She exhaled heavily and her eyes flicked up towards his without her tilting her head up. "Are you okay?" he asked, already knowing the answer. She didn't speak, just nodded silently as her eyes flicked away from his, around the room.

 _Why do I bother to lie to him?_ she wondered. _It would've been obvious to anyone that I'm not okay, and he knows me better than anyone._

As much as she didn't want to talk about it, she knew that Kurt wouldn't let her go at that. She really was a bad liar when it came to him. He wouldn't push her to talk, she knew, he would just try gently to convince her to and then wait her out. He knew her too well. _Better than I know myself_ , she thought ruefully. It wasn't an exaggeration. If anything, it was an understatement, but she supposed that that was what happened when one person had had their memory wiped and the other one had an FBI case file on them that included scans of every single inch of her body. She'd gotten past that a while back… mostly.

He was still looking at her, waiting. He had a guess at what was bothering her, and if he was right, then it was his own fault, but for the moment he was playing his cards close to his vest, so to speak, to see if she'd tell him herself.

When her eyes finally stopped darting around the locker room and her breathing slowed back down closer to normal speed, she looked back up at him – tilting her head in his direction this time instead of just her eyes – to find him looking at her with that look that he gave only to her. She hadn't quite figured out what it was, only that he never looked at anyone else that way. Whatever it was, it was special, and it made _her_ feel special.

Swallowing hard, she forced herself to hold eye contact with him. "I... you know, today was just Wednesday and... I forgot…" she stopped and took a deep breath, trying to continue, but stumbling on the words. "I didn't… I don't… It's just…" Her breath hitched and she silently cursed the tears that she could feel forming behind her eyes. _You sure cry a lot for someone who's supposed to be some kind of badass super fighter_ , the voice in her head told her mockingly, which only made her feel worse. It was true, she was constantly battling against her emotions, and even now, after she'd adjusted somewhat to her new life, she felt like most of the time she lost the battle. She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to silence her doubts.

She knew she wasn't making any sense, and that he probably had no idea what she was talking about… but she couldn't get the thoughts to come out coherently, and her voice had already begun to break. She looked away, somewhere just over Kurt's left shoulder, now feeling the tears gathering in her eyes and willing them to evaporate. Hadn't she cried in front of him enough?

He watched her and could almost see the wheels in her head spinning faster and faster. "Hey," he said softly, causing her eyes to land back on him again. He rested his hand on the upper arm, just below her shoulder, squeezing gently. Warmth immediately radiated out from that spot, spreading through her. She felt her knees weaken slightly, as sometimes happened to her when he was that close, and she somehow managed to remain standing as she released her vice like grip on the door of her locker and turned towards him slowly, grateful for the contact. The relief that she felt simply from him holding onto her arm was so overwhelming, that suddenly she couldn't stop herself from leaning forward the few inches between them, until her forehead rested against his shoulder.

She let out a ragged sigh, hating that she felt so helpless. No matter that she had spent so much time feeling helpless that she was almost used to it, or that she felt it much less often now than she had when she'd first ended up at the FBI. She was making progress, but there were still so many moments of panic, like this one, where she hated herself for feeling so weak.

He was glad when she leaned against him, because he hated to watch her suffer and not be about to do anything about it. His arms came up and circled gently around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug, and he felt her arms come up around his waist tentatively to complete the circle. However complicated his feelings for her were, there was one thing he knew for sure, and that was that holding onto her like that felt like the right thing to do.

Ever since that black tie undercover party op they'd been on together, playing husband and wife, things between them had been a little different. Nothing had happened, exactly, it was more of just a feeling. God knew that his feelings for her hadn't needed to get any more complicated, and yet… in a way, things seemed simpler, though it seemed impossible to explain what that even meant. He didn't even understand it himself.

Looking back at the op now, with the danger behind them, he would almost say that the day had actually been kind of _fun_. In order to look like husband and wife, they'd had to spend all their time holding hands, dancing, whispering in each other's ear… it had been an excuse to be that close to her, something that he wouldn't have dared to do otherwise. What he had discovered that day, was that it felt... right. Ever since then he'd felt closer to her, even though nothing had really changed between them. Well, other than the fact that he was slowly realizing that his touch was comforting to her, so little by little, he found himself slowly less afraid to reach out for her at times like this.

"Do you want to tell me?" he whispered, speaking almost directly into her ear because of the way his head was angled. Her felt her exhale heavily, but she didn't say anything. "Would it have anything to do with Thanksgiving being tomorrow?" he asked gently in the same whisper. The conversation between Reade and Zapata about Thanksgiving had seemed to set her off, which was why it was his first guess.

He felt her stiffen quickly, and he held on to her a little tighter, knowing that he'd just confirmed his suspicion. It made sense. He knew how much she hated to be alone at her safe house, and now they were facing a potential long weekend – if work didn't call them in, anyway – which just meant even more time alone. Not only that, it was a holiday where the focus was on family and being thankful for what you have… which, he realized, when you've been stripped of everything and everyone in your life and all the memories that go with them in the still not _too_ distant past, it would be more than a little bit painful.

He pulled back from her enough to look her in the eyes, noticing that she didn't seem to want to meet his. "Jane," he said evenly, waiting until her eyes settled on him, "You really think I'd let you spend Thanksgiving alone?" She just glanced down sadly, then back up at him again but said nothing. It was a look that broke his heart.

"You don't have to, I mean…" she started, but broke off. Once again, the words just didn't want to come out. She looked down at the floor yet again.

"No," he said insistently, "This is all my fault. I was supposed to have invited you last week, and then I forgot. We've just been so preoccupied with these last few cases, it slipped my mind. Sarah's actually been bugging me about it for like a month, but I just kept forgetting." He stopped and looked at her, feeling guilty. _God, I'm such a jerk sometimes_ , he thought. She was glancing between the floor and him, and he tried to catch her eyes again. "I'm sorry, Jane, I didn't mean to leave something so important to the last minute. It's not fair to you." He felt horrible, knowing that he could have saved her so much stress.

She finally met his eyes again, and he was fairly sure that what he saw in them was relief, and she smiled just the tiniest bit at him.

"Unless, of course, you already have plans," he deadpanned.

"Shut up, Weller," she replied, pulling one of her arms from his back to punch his jokingly in the arm with her fist, trying to look annoyed but succeeding only in smiling sadly at him.

As serious as he typically was around most people, he couldn't help but smile back at her then, and pull her back into a hug, tighter this time. She rested her cheek on his shoulder and sighed contentedly. A comfortable few minutes went by before they both pulled away and dropped their hands, the air between them no longer heavy. Jane turned back to her locker slowly, pulling out her small, mostly empty bag, and closing the metal door with a clang.

As if sensing that she was about to tell him good night, Kurt went back to his locker and closed it, then turned back to her before she had a chance to say anything. "Come on," he said, "I'll give you a ride home." She opened her mouth to protest, but he just raised his eyebrows at her. The thing was, they were both stubborn, and they both knew it. She closed her mouth and made a face at him.

It occurred to her then that she didn't actually have a reason to say no. She had nothing to prove to this man standing in front of her. He knew literally everything about her, and there he was, looking at her with that look again… like she was the most important person in the world. She didn't feel worthy of such admiration, but knowing him, she knew it wouldn't be worth arguing. Besides, why would she want to?

At that moment she was flooded with gratitude. She had lost so many things in her life – literally everything – but they were gone, and she didn't remember them anyway, which was perhaps for the best. And yes, that made things scary sometimes, and frustrating, and lonely… But the feeling that she had at that moment – that was one thing she hoped that she would never have to forget. She may have lost everything once, but what she had gained was so much better. She had no proof of that, of course, but she believed it with everything inside her. After all, what could be better than the way she felt around him?

Realizing that she'd been lost in her thoughts, and that he was standing there probably waiting for her to tell him that it was fine, she didn't need a ride, she smiled at him and said simply, "Okay." She realized that he really had been expecting her to say no, because he looked pleasantly surprised by her response. A wide smile spread across his face and she couldn't help but smile back.

"So, let's go already," she told him in mock impatience. They maneuvered around the lockers towards the door, falling into step side by side, and Jane couldn't help feeling like Thanksgiving had come a day early.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It wasn't long before they pulled up in front of her safe house, her security detail pulling up just behind them. They got out of the car, waved goodnight to the detail, and walked to the door, Kurt doing his usual careful surveillance of the street around them. She unlocked the door and let them in, and was surprised to see Kurt walk past her, appearing to do a quick inspection of the entire first floor – doors, windows, closets and corners. He didn't usually do this, and she wasn't sure exactly why he was doing it now. When he completed the circuit of the first floor and walked back to where she was still standing in the entryway, an amused look on her face, he realized exactly what he'd just done as she had stood and watched him. He stopped in front of her and looked slightly embarrassed, as she just grinned. "You… looking for something?" she asked him, suppressing a chuckle.

"Just want to make sure you're safe," he told her seriously, looking straight into her eyes the way he often did. She felt her insides melting a little bit. He was just too sweet.

"So, are you planning to check upstairs, too?" she asked innocently. She honestly hadn't meant anything by it, but she suddenly realized that it may have come out of her mouth in a different way. Before she could stop herself, she blushed slightly. He just stood and looked at her, aware of the awkwardness that had just appeared, and not sure of the right answer.

"Well, go ahead," she told him, gesturing upstairs. "I'm going to make some tea." With that, she walked back toward the kitchen, leaving him to go upstairs alone, thereby dispelling some of the tension of the situation. Not that she thought that he was anything but a gentleman, it was just one of those things that was unspoken between them; exactly what they were to each other.

Honestly, she didn't know what to think. She was fairly sure that she'd overheard whispers between Reade and Zapata about some sort of bet the two of them had going over what would happen between herself and Weller. She ignored it. From the first time she and Kurt had met, there'd been a connection between them, one that neither of them had even tried to articulate. Not really. It just… was.

Then there had been that whole "keep work separate" thing, which had been a terrible idea. It had just made them both treat each other with hostility, and made them both miserable. So since they had agreed that they were "in this together," they'd been something more. Something special. They were more than just plain friends, but how much more wasn't clear. For example, he'd let her question him extensively about his love life when they were dancing on the undercover op, and he'd answered all of her questions. If anyone else had ever tried to ask him any of those things, not only would he would not have answered, but would have shut down the line of inquiry altogether. No, there was something there, something that both of them seemed to know but neither of them dared to articulate – or to act on past a certain point.

When Kurt came back downstairs, Jane had two mugs of tea on the coffee table in front of the couch and she was sitting with her feet curled under her to one side, leaning on one arm along the back cushion. "How's it look up there?" she asked curiously.

He knew that she was teasing him, but he didn't mind. "Everything's in order," he said, walking over to sit down next to her, about halfway between where she was sitting and the other end of the couch. Not too close and not too far away.

"Thanks," she said simply, smiling at him. She found his concern very endearing. She leaned forward to pick up her tea, then she sat back again holding the mug, scooting over just a little closer to him so that only a few inches were between them. He watched her settle back into the cushions, sipping carefully on the hot tea. His first thought was that she looked very… at peace. It was rare to see her like that.

"What?" she asked him, watching him smile at her.

"You just look… happy. I like it," he told her simply. He sat forward at picked up the second mug of tea, then sat back beside her. He was more of a coffee person, but this tea wasn't bad.

"Well… I am," she replied. He couldn't help but smile. Without having to be told, he knew that he had something to do with that smile, in the same way that she had something to do with the smile on his own face. Careful not to spill his tea, he settled himself back against the pillows the same way she had, closing the small gap between them so that their shoulders and legs brushed against each other. She looked at him, surprised but simultaneously not surprised. She felt a little awkward, but only until she looked back up and into his eyes. The look in his eyes, as usual, said all that she needed to know. He was rewarded for his bold move – by his standards, anyway - with her head on his shoulder. He secured his tea in his other hand and wrapped the arm closer to her around her shoulders, gently tugging him toward her a little more.

She breathed out a sigh, not quite sure this wasn't all in her head. It seemed too good to be true. They sat that way, drinking their tea, without needing to say anything, until Jane felt her eyelids growing heavy. She yawned, and then picked up her head to look at Kurt. He looked sleepy too.

"I saw that," he told her, a teasing smile on his face.

"I know," she replied regretfully. "It's been another long day."

"Yes it has," he agreed. He removed his arm from her shoulder, sitting forward to put his tea on the coffee table, and then lifting both of his arms in the air and stretching them upwards. "And we both need to get some sleep."

"Yeah," she agreed disappointedly. Her expression made him chuckle.

"You remember that you're spending tomorrow at my place, right?" he grinned. "You're going to see me in a few hours." She nodded, sitting up to put her mug down on the coffee table and stretch as well.

"I know, I know," she told him. She looked at the clock, which told her that it was later than she had thought it was. "Wow, how'd it get so late?" she wondered out loud.

"Time flies when you're having fun," he told her. The look on her face told him that she may not have remembered the expression. "It's just something that people say," he added. She nodded, a look of discomfort passing over her face. He assumed it was because she realized that it was something that she had probably known in the past, but forgotten. He patted her knee gently, and watched the frown on her face disappear. Standing up slowly, he stretched again, and looked down to see her watching him. "Come on, I need to get going, and you need to go up and get some sleep." She narrowed her eyes at him jokingly.

"But I don't want to," she said, pretending to sulk.

"Oh, you'd better get your rest. I'm sure Sarah and Sawyer will want to talk your ear off tomorrow," he told her. She nodded, smiling tiredly again and standing up beside him to follow him toward the front door.

At the door, he turned around to smile at her, his eyes locking onto hers. She leaned against the wall, suddenly sleepy. "I'm going to come pick you up at… what's good? 9:00?"

She nodded, smiling, still leaning on the wall. "Whatever's good for you."

"Okay then. Around 9:00. Good night, Jane," he said, not moving. As usual, he was mesmerized by her eyes.

"Good night," she replied, smiling, her eyes equally locked onto his.

He stared at her for a few extra seconds before forcing himself to turn around and let himself out. As she locked the door behind him, she couldn't help but wonder how she could go from feeling so completely empty to so completely cared for in the space of such a short time. Life certainly was full of surprises.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day, Thanksgiving, was something of a blur. As predicted, Sarah and Sawyer talked a mile a minute pretty much all day, but Jane didn't mind. Whether or not she had been Taylor as a child, and consequently spent so much time with Kurt and Sarah, she fit right in with the three of them now. She helped Sarah prepare food for several hours, until there was nothing left for her to do for the moment, and she was released from the kitchen. "Go on and check on the boys," Sarah had told her. So Jane walked out to where Kurt and Sawyer were seated on the couch in front of the TV, watching a football game.

"Jane! Sit with us!" Sawyer exclaimed excitedly, scooting over to make space for her. The space just happened to be between himself and Kurt. Jane smiled at Sawyer, touched by the boy's excitement over having her there. Though she had no idea what was going on in the game they were watching, she happily sat down between the two boys. She wasn't quite as close to Kurt as she had been the night before, but just his proximity was enough to make her smile. He turned and looked at her with the same warm look he'd given her the night before. The same look he gave her a lot lately.

She sat back into the cushions between the two, feeling surrounded by happiness. The game went on and Kurt and Sawyer screamed out their excitement or disappointment, depending on what happened on the TV, and Jane had no idea what was going on. That was okay with her. She was perfectly content. At one point, Sawyer got up and wandered into the kitchen to talk to his mom, and Kurt turned to Jane.

"Having fun?" he asked her.

"You have to ask?" She was pretty sure the smile on her face should have said it all, especially considering how closely he always seemed to watch her. He just smiled back at her.

"You're not bored of football by now?"

She glanced at the TV and looked only a tiny bit guilty. "Well, I have no idea what's going on, but it doesn't bother me. I hear that there's lots of women who don't know anything about football, so it's not just me," she replied.

Kurt nodded his agreement. "That _is_ true," he told her. "You're definitely not alone there."

Her expression changed then. She was still smiling, but there was something else there, something he couldn't identify. He waited to see if she was going to say something, and he was surprised when she clasped his hand gently in her own. He glanced toward the kitchen, aware that Sarah and Sawyer weren't far, and that Sarah would make a lot more of what Jane was doing that she should if she happened to see this. Neither of them were looking in their direction, though. He looked back at Jane, wondering what she was doing.

"You're right about that," Jane said softly, "I'm _not_ alone. And I know that now." Kurt suddenly felt like his heart was going to burst, not with pain, as it had felt so often over the years, but with happiness. She squeezed her fingers.

"Good," he said simply, eyes once again locked on hers. They heard rustling from the kitchen and she slowly let go of his hand, missing the contact as soon as it was gone.

Within seconds, Sawyer was back. "Jane! Uncle Kurt! Mom says that it's time to eat!" Excitement shone in his eyes.

"Alright, thanks buddy. We'll be right there," Kurt told him. Sawyer was off again as soon as the words had left Kurt's lips.

They turned back to look at each other, suddenly a little shy. "Thank you for today," she said softly. "And for... all of it. I'm glad – no, it's Thanksgiving, so I'm _thankful –_ that you're the first person I can remember." He didn't know how to reply to something like that, he was overwhelmed by the weight of it. All he could do was sit and look at her, his mouth slightly open. She watched him for a minute, then chuckled. "Special Agent Kurt Weller… speechless? Wow," she teased him.

He just shook his head at her. "I'm thankful…" he said in a whisper, "that you ended up here. It was worth it. _All_ of it." They were both frozen in place, looking into each other's eyes for a few seconds, and then, too soon, he was standing up from the couch. Turning around to face her, he held his hand out to her, and said "Come on, time to eat." She put her hand in his and let him pull her up from the couch, both of them now smiling dopey smiles at each other, enjoying their momentary uncharacteristic sappiness. Once she had stood up, she held onto his hand for a few seconds longer than necessary before letting it go.

 _No matter what happens,_ she told herself, _this life is one that I'm never going to forget._


	2. One Year Later

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Blindspot. I only WISH I owned Blindspot. But then again, if I did it would be all Jeller and it would probably be cancelled, because I'm nowhere near as talented as the writers on the show. I think I'll stick to fanfic for now.**_

 _A/N: OK, I know that Thanksgiving is technically already past, but I only got the idea to add a "1 year later" chapter_ _ **on**_ _Thanksgiving… and I had very little time to write yesterday, so please forgive my lateness. Also, I know that Blindspot doesn't work in real time, so time doesn't pass at the same speed for them as it does for us – which makes it pretty hard to know what a year from where I decided that Thanksgiving was last year (between 109 and 110). So I'm just going to say that in this chapter, at Thanksgiving, it's now the part of season 2 that MG's been hinting at for the second half – when Jane and Kurt are back in a good place. As per usual, I'm ignoring the "Nas" and "Allie's baby" storylines... because it's my story, and in my universe those things would never happen – unless I found a use for them, which so far I have not. Anyway, hope you enjoy this._

 **One Year Later…**

Her phone buzzed on the nightstand, and she rushed across the room to see that the text was from Kurt.

 _I'm out front. Are you ready or what?_ it said.

"Dammit, Kurt, I'm not ready yet!" she growled at her phone. A second later, she heard his impatient knocking on the door. Grabbing her phone, she typed hurriedly, before he decided to use his key.

 _You're early! I'm still getting dressed!_

 _Well then I'll be right up,_ he replied quickly. She rolled her eyes at him, even though he wasn't there to see it.

 _Classy, Weller. Stay downstairs or I'll kick your ass._

 _And because I know that you could do it, and wouldn't hesitate, I'm staying_ _ **outside**_ _. But hurry up!_

She chuckled at his response, and then set her phone back down, walking back to her closet to pull out the sweater that she wanted to wear. The team was going out for drinks and dessert, but before they met up with Reade, Zapata and Patterson, she and Kurt were having dinner at his place. They tended to hang out at her place much of the time, but as he had informed her, "Sorry, Jane, but cooking is involved… and that's just not your thing."

Since it wasn't as though she could exactly argue with him about her lack of cooking skills, and since Kurt had insisted that he had it all under control and that he would be in charge of dinner, she had agreed. After all, he was insisting on spending Thanksgiving with her, which was a lot better than any other alternative she could have come up with… who was she to protest? She knew a good thing when she saw one.

One thing she didn't understand was the timing, however. It was hard to understand how everyone called it dinner, because the meal seemed to happen in the middle of the afternoon. However, she had been informed by Kurt, Patterson, Reade _and_ Zapata that their families had all always eaten at that hour on Thanksgiving. Of course, Janehad no frame of reference to go by – this was only her second Thanksgiving – so she deferred to her friends.

Last year, she'd spent the day with Kurt, Sarah and Sawyer at their apartment. This year, Sarah and Sawyer had stayed in Portland for Thanksgiving, where they were now living, so that Sawyer could spend the day with his dad. Sarah had apologized profusely and promised that to make up for it, they would definitely be in New York for Christmas. Kurt hadn't seemed upset about it, possibly just a little disappointed, but as always, he did the whole stoic thing well.

Kurt sat in the car, waiting for Jane, chuckling to himself about their text exchange and glad that he'd decided to stick around for Thanksgiving. He'd toyed with the idea of flying to Portland, but in their line of work, making travel plans was a little risky since you never knew if they would end up being pre-empted by a work emergency. Now that he was Assistant Director, that possibility seemed even greater. Besides, it was _Portland._ He had nothing _against_ Portland, but it wasn't New York…

And then there was Jane. If he'd gone to Portland, he'd have had to think of a reason why she should come too… No, that wasn't right. He wouldn't _have to_ have done that, but he would've done it because he wanted to spend Thanksgiving with her – and not just because she didn't have any family to spend it with. No, despite everything that had changed between them since last Thanksgiving, they had actually made it back to a place where he hated the thought of her spending the holiday alone. Not only that, he hated the thought of spending the holiday without her. So, it would have been awkward to figure out how to convince her to come to Portland, and then to figure out how to explain it to Sarah, since it wasn't as though he knew exactly what was going on between them. _Sarah would have had a field day with that_ , he thought with a smile.

 _Maybe you and Jane should talk about what_ _ **is**_ _happening between the two of you, then. That would solve that particular problem, wouldn't it?_ the logical side of his brain offered.

 _But it isn't that simple_ , his brain insisted. _Or is it…?_

In any case, he was glad that he'd opted to stay in New York, because Jane had arranged a whole outing with the team, none of whom were going out of town for Thanksgiving this year. He didn't consider himself a social guy, but this was different. They were a family, and after the past year – or after the chunk of time that Jane had been with them, really, but _especially_ after this past year – they were more like a family than ever. For the most part, they lacked most of the irritations of family. They were certainly less dysfunctional than _his_ family… not that _that_ said much, of course.

He sighed as his thoughts strayed once again to his father. The things he hadn't known about the man just a year ago… he closed his eyes and exhaled, telling himself to let it go. How many times had he told himself just that since that night when his father died? And why did he have an easier time letting go of the parts of that night that had to do with Jane than with his father?

 _Because deep down, even when she made the wrong decisions, Jane was_ _ **always**_ _a good person_ , the voice in his head replied helpfully. _You father, on the other hand…_

Closing his eyes and leaning his head against the headrest, he took a deep breath and willed himself once again to let it go. None of it could be undone or changed or done any better. The only thing there was to do was to move on.

Jane had pulled on the light blue sweater that she'd been saving to wear for the first time that day. She wasn't into shopping _whatsoever_ , but every once in a while Patterson and Zapata dragged her out to do just that, insisting that jeans and tank tops wouldn't do in _every_ situation, and eventually she would need something nicer. Today, as she looked at herself in the mirror, she was glad that they had forced her to buy a few other things. This particular sweater reminded her of the color of Kurt's eyes, though she wouldn't have admitted out loud that that was what had attracted her to it in the first place. It was also, she discovered, the softest material she had ever felt. Between the sweater, the white shirt that peeked out under it at the collar and a pair of black pants and some black high heels that would make her the same height as Kurt for a change, she thought she looked pretty good.

Though it was simple, this was possibly her most glamorous look ever – she had even put on the silver necklace and earrings that the girls had helped her pick out. They were simple, just one small, sparkly ball on each earring, dangling slightly from her earlobe, and a slightly larger one as a pendant around her neck. She stared at the necklace for a few seconds, thinking of the only other necklace she remembered owning, and for just a second, allowing herself to wonder what had happened to that flat disc with the green stone in the middle. She wasn't Taylor, so she knew that she had no claim to it, but Kurt had given it to her, which made her miss it – even though she knew that he'd given it to her thinking that she was Taylor.

After those few seconds of thinking about the fate of the other necklace, however, she put an end to the pity party. Kurt himself was outside waiting for her. He had made her _dinner_ , for goodness sake. There was no reason to feel sorry for herself or wonder about something as trivial as a necklace. After one more glance in the mirror, she smiled at her reflection and declared herself ready to go.

Slipping into her jacket and out into the chilly afternoon, she imagined that this family-centered holiday must have been at least a little bit uncomfortable for Kurt this year. Not only were Sarah and Sawyer not there, but this was the first Thanksgiving since his dad had died – _not_ that they had spent the previous one with him, of course – or, as far as she could piece together from what little Kurt had said about his father in the time that she'd known him, that he had spent _any_ holiday with him in many, many years… And while the bombshell about Taylor Shaw that the man had dropped on Kurt just before he died had assured that Kurt didn't _miss_ him, she imagined that it made everything that much more emotional. Thanksgiving was about family, after all, and this year Kurt found himself without what little family he had left.

It was then that she realized, as she approached the car, that she was in the same boat. Shepherd was – well, no one knew what had happened to her after they had escaped the Sandstorm compound. Roman had shot her, but hadn't been able to kill her. She may have bled out, but more likely she had gone underground somewhere. Roman, on the other hand… well, the FBI was holding him, and despite his memory wipe, they would be holding him for quite some time – if not forever. That made Jane nervous, especially with the thought that Shepherd was still out there... She knew exactly the lengths to which Sandstorm would go to get her brother back, even if it was only to kill him – which, after he'd shot Shepherd, seemed like the most likely outcome. After all, Shepherd had never been big on forgiveness. So for all intents and purposes, she was just as family-less as he was.

And yet, she didn't feel like she was family-less. Last year at this time, she had felt _completely_ alone. _Desperate_. She had leaned on Kurt heavily. No, _leaned_ wasn't a strong enough word for it. She had _clung_ to him for dear life, mainly figuratively, but occasionally also literally. This year, she felt like a different person, more of a whole person and not just a woman whose life had been erased. This year, she was prepared for him to lean on _her_ , if necessary.

She reached that car and saw that his eyes were closed, the look on his face slightly pained, and she knew that her assumption about his state of mind today must have been at least partially correct. When she tapped lightly on his window, however, his eyes sprang open and he immediately smiled at her, his eyes lighting up. He rolled down his window a few inches and said, "I was just taking a little nap, seeing as how you took _so long_ to be ready!" Her face twisted into an expression of mock annoyance and she leaned down by the window to say, "Look Weller, it's still _5 minutes_ _ **before**_ you said you were picking me up, and I'm ready. I'm not late."

He grinned at her, enjoying the chance to tease her more than he probably should have, especially because she enjoyed bantering back and forth with him as much as he did. "Just get in the car, Jane," he told her with a smile. After one more look of mock annoyance, she smiled back at him and walked around to the passenger side of the car. It was silly that he was picking her up in the first place, when she could very well have driven over to his place herself, but for some reason, he had it in his head that he wanted to pick her up, and she'd quickly realized that it would make him happy, so why not just go with it? It didn't matter to her who did the driving… though she _did_ like to drive.

As she settled herself in the seat beside him, he couldn't help but think how beautiful she looked. Of course, she was always beautiful, but he'd never seen her so dressed up before – besides the times when she'd been dressed up for _work_. For whatever reason, this had a different effect.

A few seconds later she looked up at him, catching him watching her. She smiled back at him, slightly self-consciously, and without a second thought he said, "You look beautiful." Blushing a little bit, her smile increased until he forgot any trace of sadness that he'd felt a few minutes ago. At that moment, like so many others before it, there was only Jane.

"Thank you," she replied, feeling herself blushing even more than usual. The butterflies that she got in her stomach every time he looked at her like that were back. "You look pretty cute yourself," she added, grinning at him. He just chuckled and shook his head, turning back to the task of driving them back to his place.

Kurt had considered moving to a smaller place since Sarah had moved out. Though he'd had that apartment before she and Sawyer had moved in with him and been fine with it, now that they had left it felt too big, too empty. However, every time he thought about moving to a new place, the tiny, nagging thoughts in the back of his mind, where he wondered about Jane, and what could potentially happen between them down the road – no matter how _far_ down the road – and how he'd rather live somewhere with _her_ , crept in, and he abandoned the topic of moving for the time being. Consequently, he still lived in the same apartment he had for years, even though it now felt much too big. The apartment hadn't changed… only he had.

Back at Kurt's place, Jane looked around in amazement at all the food that Kurt had prepared. "This is just for the _two of us_?" she asked in awe. Turkey, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, salad, stuffing, rolls, and a few things that she couldn't immediately identify. He chuckled, watching her look from one dish to another as he moved around, warming the few things that had managed to cool a little too much while he'd gone out to pick her up.

"Yes, it's just us," he replied with a smile. "And you're going to be helping me eat the leftovers, too." He paused to watch her reaction, and then then added, "Right?"

Jane grinned at him and nodded. "You know I'm always happy to help. Speaking of which, why didn't you let me _help_ with all this? You know you owe me some more cooking lessons."

It was true, he had promised to help her learn to cook, but it had been ages since they'd had time for a lesson. "Yep, we're definitely overdue for a cooking lesson. And then next Thanksgiving, I promise that you can help me," he told her seriously, his eyes twinkling.

"Next year, huh?" she asked in surprise. "Are you saying you want to spend next Thanksgiving with me, too?"

 _Next year, and the next one, and all the ones after that,_ he thought, but decided not to say that. That might be getting ahead of himself just a little, even if it _was_ the truth.

"What? You already have plans for next Thanksgiving?" he asked, pretending to be shocked. "Wow, and I thought this would be far enough in advance to be _sure_ you weren't busy."

Shaking her head at him in amusement, she replied, "I'll have to check my calendar and get back to you. I'll have my people call your people." At that point, she couldn't keep a straight face anymore, and she laughed before telling him, "Of course I'm not busy next Thanksgiving, silly."

"So then we're on for next year?" he asked with a smile.

"Of course," she told him with a smile, and she couldn't help but notice that he looked exceptionally pleased. "Now… can we eat already? Because _someone_ told me not to eat lunch so I'm be hungry, and I'm _really_ hungry!"

"Yep, it's time to eat," he said, consulting his watch. "We need to be ready to go by 4:00, anyway."

As they sat and ate, opting to sit beside each other at the round table in Kurt's dining room rather than across from each other, as they often did lately, Jane couldn't help but feel that despite the fact that it was just the two of them, it was possibly the perfect Thanksgiving meal. Or maybe that was _why_ it was perfect? Yes, there were a lot of people that she would have loved to have there with them – Sarah and Sawyer, of course, and, if life had allowed such a thing to be possible, even Shepherd and Roman, under better, different circumstances. That part was an impossibility for _many_ reasons, of course, and one or both of them would probably sooner try to kill her than sit down for Thanksgiving dinner with her, but the thought crossed her mind nonetheless. She knew that it wasn't something that she got to choose, just a daydream.

She was surprised and delighted to notice, however, that while Roman was not a part of it, the scene unfolding in front of her was not completely unlike those dreams that she'd been having a few months ago, the ones that used to cause her so much pain when she woke up and found that they were not her reality. No, she and Kurt weren't kissing in their current reality. She couldn't rule out that they were headed in that direction, but so far, it hadn't happened again… but otherwise, the atmosphere, the fact that the two of them were there, happily spending time together and enjoying a great meal… that part of it did remind her of those dreams. Considering that she'd never thought any _part_ of them would come true, this was pretty damn good.

As they ate, talking about everything and nothing, he couldn't help but feel like things between the two of them were almost as good as they had been back at the beginning, before they had started hiding things from each other. No, this was even better. Jane was noticeably different, after all. She was the same in a way, but she was so much _happier_. The haunted look was, at that moment at least, gone from her eyes and she simply looked… content. As the conversation progressed, their hands brushed against each other, against a shoulder, or as she laughed so hard at something he'd said that he gasped slightly for air, letting her head hall against his shoulder… it was all just perfect. As much as there might be missing from his life, he had something – some _one_ – in it that was so much better than what he could have hoped to have before he'd met her, and he was in awe.

Before they knew it, it was time to leave to meet up with the team. Though he didn't want to leave the cozy little bubble the two of them existed in at that moment, he reminded himself that he _was_ also looking forward to spending social time with the rest of the team, his less-dysfunctional family. Of course, at that particular moment it was hard to convince himself that he wanted to go anywhere. He would have been perfectly happy to just hang out with Jane for the rest of the evening. But Jane had been the one to arrange this little get together, and she was very excited about it, as much as he knew that if they _hadn't_ had plans with the others, she would also have been equally happy to just hang out with _him._

They cleaned up as much as they could, starting the dishwasher and leaving the rest of the dishes for later, or, since "Sarah the cleaning fanatic" wasn't around to insist on them being cleaned promptly, possibly tomorrow. Now they headed out to Balthazar to meet the others for drinks.

While, of course, the others had expressed definite interest in a chance to get together with the group to break up the large chunk of family time that would be spent over the long weekend, the main goal of this outing was to cheer up Patterson. She'd been having a _very_ rough time of it the past few months, ever since Borden had been exposed as the mole at the FBI. It didn't seem fair – first David had been murdered because he'd tried to help her with a case, and then her next boyfriend was a traitor. To say that she had bad luck with dating was quite an understatement, and despite how hard she was fighting, she was not doing well. Her parents had flown in from the mid-west the day before, and within hours Patterson had already texted Jane to say that her mother was driving her _crazy_. She needed a few hours away, she said, and could they meet for drinks on Thursday?

It had been Jane's idea to invite everyone, and the gathering was quickly planned for Thursday around 4:30 pm. Jane had figured that a gathering of the whole group might help Patterson even more than just drinks with one friend, and might take her mind off of both her life _and_ her mother. The others had been equally excited for a chance to get together outside of work on the holiday as well, and of course, they would do anything they could to help Patterson. Therefore, the plan had been formulated quickly. Of course, they would have dinner with their families, and probably dessert as well. But later in the afternoon, they would meet for drinks – and possibly a little bit more dessert.

Jane and Kurt were the first ones to arrive. Jane had made the reservation, and had been both impressed and relieved that she'd been able to get one only one day in advance. They settled down at the table, taking seats beside each other – maybe a little closer than was wise if they wanted to keep up the whole "nothing more than friends" thing, which none of the rest of the team believed anyway. They took the menus from the overly friendly waitress, setting them on the table without even glancing at them until the others arrived.

They were deep in conversation when Patterson showed up a few minutes later, looking stressed, but also quite glamorous. She'd obviously channeled some of her frustration with her mother into getting ready for their outing, because her hair was curled and she was wearing a deep purple dress with a short black sweater that sparkled brightly. Her makeup was minimal, but it was there, as was the family-and-life-related stress that had been apparent in her face at work the last time they'd seen her, before her family had even arrived.

But the blonde smiled at them in relief, slipping into the circular booth beside Jane and hugging her slightly, greeting both of them with a knowing grin. Jane was glad to see that Patterson appeared to relax as soon as she sat down. It also seemed to help that there was a drink menu sitting in front of her, which she reached for immediately after she'd hugged Jane and greeted Kurt.

Jane just smiled. Even as stressed out as she was, Patterson was a whirlwind of energy. Reade arrived next, rubbing his hands together from the cold outside as he approached the table, looking slightly less elegant than Patterson, but appropriately dressed up for the occasion as well.

"Hey guys," he said, leaning down to give Patterson a quick one armed hug, nodding at the other two, and then sliding into the bench seat beside Kurt. "How's everyone?" Jane and Kurt just nodded, the happy smiles on their faces saying all they needed to say. Patterson, on the other hand, was trying hard, but her smile was clearly forced.

"Ask me again after I've had a drink," she told him, smiling just a little at her own joke.

Reade just nodded. "No kidding," he said. "Thanksgiving can be a bit intense." And just as if on cue, Zapata appeared beside the table, looking every bit as glamorous as Patterson, though not quite as elegantly dressed. She was all in black, her hair hanging down behind her shoulders. "Speaking of intense," Reade said as she stood beside the table, smiling at them. Zapata looked down at Reade and smacked him playfully on the arm.

"I heard that, you know," she said, pretending to be offended. "Hi, guys," she added, looking around at the group. She leaned down to hug Patterson, smiled at Jane and Kurt, who were sandwiched in between the other two, and then turned to look at Reade. "Looks like you're taking up two spaces there, buddy," she observed. "You trying to save that seat for someone?"

"For you, _of course_ , Zapata," he replied innocently, scooting over further along the circle to make room for her. She rolled her eyes at him, and then looked around at the faces around the table.

"I'm _so_ glad to see you guys, you have no idea," Zapata told them dramatically as she slid into the seat beside Reade, completing the circle.

"Oh, I do," Patterson said equally emphatically. "I'm glad to see _anyone_ who isn't my mother right about now." She stopped for a second, taking a deep breath and attempting to steady herself. "She means well," the blonde sighed, "but she's driving me _insane_." Her eyes widened so far on the last word that she looked slightly crazed, which was exactly what she was going for.

The others laughed sympathetically, as Zapata and Reade tried to add appropriate comments about their own families as Jane and Kurt sat quietly, just listening. Neither of them felt like complaining about their Thanksgiving, not one bit, absent criminal family members notwithstanding. On the contrary, Jane almost felt guilty for feeling that her Thanksgiving was now just about perfect. After all, she'd had both alone time with Kurt at dinner _and_ now, time with her friends – her less dysfunctional "family." She had nothing to complain about, as far as she was concerned.

The waitress reappeared then, and they ordered drinks, then she quickly disappeared again.

There was a pause, and Patterson attempted to bring up work. "So, I was thinking about tattoo case from earlier this week, the one with the—"

"Nope, sorry," Zapata said loudly, "We are _not_ talking about work today. Not if we can possibly help it. Right, boss?" She turned and looked at Kurt, arching an eyebrow questioningly.

Kurt rolled his eyes and knocked his knuckles against the wooden table. "Don't jinx us, _please_ ," he told her.

"Good," Zapata replied, looking back at Patterson, "You heard him. No talking about work."

"Okay, fine, but…" Patterson began.

"Face it, Patterson," Reade interjected, "You're going to have to talk about something else."

She sighed in pretend frustration, rolling her eyes at them but smiling. "Okay then," she said with a suddenly mischievous smile on her face, "can we talk about how nice you look tonight, Jane?" Jane immediately blushed as all eyes turned towards her.

"Oh, uh, thanks, Patterson, I…" Jane laughed, trying to regain her composure. But Patterson wasn't finished.

"Doesn't she look nice, Weller?" Patterson asked, now directing all eyes to Kurt.

 _Oh, so this is the game,_ he thought, wishing he hadn't just forbidden her from talking about work.

"Yes, she looks beautiful, as I already told her," Kurt replied calmly, trying not to give in to Patterson's attempt at embarrassing them – as Jane had. "And so do you and Zapata, by the way," Kurt added, trying to deflect attention from himself and Jane. Reade nodded in agreement, but wisely stayed quiet.

"Mm-hmm," Zapata said in mock suspicion. "So who got here first, Weller? You or Jane?"

Jane bit her lip to avoid blurting out anything she didn't want to say, but Kurt still looked perfectly calm. "We got here at the same time, actually," he said, looking directly at her. "Why?"

Zapata and Patterson exchanged a knowing glance, and then looked back at Kurt. Finished with the inquiry for the time being, Zapata shrugged and replied, "Just curious." Jane happened to glance at Reade just then, watching him look at Zapata and roll his eyes.

The waitress silently deposited their drinks in front of them, and they each thanked her quietly in turn, continuing to eye Jane and Kurt with amusement.

Patterson couldn't help but recall a particular scene from one of her all-time favorite TV shows, _Friends_ ,years ago. _They know that we know, that they know… or something like that,_ she thought with a grin. The thing was, she got the feeling that Jane and Weller didn't know any more than the rest of them did about what was going on with the two of them. _Those two are so cute_ , she thought gleefully. She was suddenly overcome with a familiar ache in her chest, one that told her that her thoughts were wandering dangerously close to where she didn't want them to go.

Zapata watched as Patterson grinned at Jane and Weller just as the rest of them were, but then her eyes seemed to glaze over, her thoughts clearly beginning to wander. "Patterson," Zapata said suddenly, and the blonde looked up at her friend from across the table. Zapata raised an eyebrow at her, and Patterson smiled as the two exchange a knowing look. Message received.

Patterson felt a sudden rush of emotion. These people were her family just as much as the people with whom she'd eaten Thanksgiving dinner, and she was glad that Jane had invited everyone along with them. As she looked around at them, she felt lucky that they'd all been wrong about Jane when it seemed like she had gone over to Sandstorm's side – back before they'd even known what Sandstorm was.

"You guys," Jane said, not especially wanting to draw their attention, but willing to do so in order to change the subject. "Thanks so much for coming. I know it's been a…" she hesitated, looking down at the table as a million things flashed through her mind.

Their team had been through so much, and there had been a _lot_ of animosity between the others and herself. They weren't quite back to where they'd been, but the fact that they were sitting and listening to her, smiling at her, said a lot. She exhaled loudly, and looked back up at them, her eyes darting between Reade, Patterson and Zapata as they continued to smile warmly at her, suddenly uncertain about finishing her sentence. But she'd started it, and her sentiment was heartfelt, so she pressed forward. "…it's been a rough year." The others nodded, their smiles dimming slightly, but not leaving their faces altogether. No one needed to bring up specifics for them to know what Jane was referring to.

"And I know that a lot of it was my…" She inhaled sharply, losing focus slightly, and shaking her head. Her hands were flat on the table, and she was suddenly pressing them down against it with increasing pressure. "Thank you," she said instead, her voice breaking slightly on the last word. She had chosen that over another apology. After all, they'd all made them already, and agreed to put it behind them. "Anyway, I'm glad we made it through it all," she finished.

She could feel her eyes getting misty, and she heard Reade's voice ring out about the others. As it did, she felt slight pressure on her hand, the one that was closest to Kurt. When she looked down to see that his hand sat gently over hers. She closed her eyes for a second, inhaling slowly, and then opened them again, glancing at him with a smile.

"Here's to _next year_ ," Reade was saying, raising his glass in the air. "Because it has _got_ to be better than this year was." The others all laughed and did the same, echoing his sentiment. This year had been rough on all of them, in so many ways… but they were still there, and they had each other. Kurt's hand remained on top of Jane's as they toasted to the upcoming twelve months and the hope that they would be better than the ones that had just passed.

They stayed there for two more hours, laughing, drinking, and sharing various desserts, just generally enjoying each other's company. In the end, the group of them walked outside into the cold night, wishing each other a happy Thanksgiving and saying goodbye. Patterson hugged Jane tightly, leaning their heads together so that she could whisper, "Thank you, Jane. This was exactly what I needed." The two leaned back and Jane smiled at her.

"Call me if you need anything, okay?" Jane told her sincerely, and Patterson nodded quickly, pulling Jane back in for a hug all over again. When they let go, they both had slightly glassy eyes, and they smiled at each other knowingly. As Patterson moved on to say good night to the others, Jane exchanged an equally heartfelt goodbye with Zapata, and then also hugged Reade. He smiled at her, shaking his head, and Jane glanced down for a second.

"Thanks, Reade," Jane said softly. He just nodded, and they smiled at each other for a few extra seconds.

"It's all good, Jane," he told her. "You did good." The tears she'd felt in her eyes a minute before were threatening to fall again, and she did her best not to blink and release them.

Reade, Patterson and Zapata dispersed into cabs and within a few minutes, only Jane and Kurt remained. "So, did you have fun?" he asked her, putting his arm around her shoulders as they walked back to his car.

"I did," Jane beamed happily, leaning into him. "How about you?"

"Of course," he said, "Lucky me, I got to spend the whole day with you."

"Awwww," Jane replied dramatically, leaning against him a little harder and shaking his head. She looked up at him and shook her head. "Such a charmer."

"What?" he asked in surprise. "It's the truth."

"And I thought that _I_ was the lucky one, getting to hang out with _you_ ," she replied.

"Oh don't get me wrong, you _are_ lucky," he told her, at which point she punched him playfully in the arm. He chuckled at her, stopping on the sidewalk and pulling her to a stop along with him. She looked up at him and he just smiled. "This coming year, I'm going to teach you to cook, and next year you're helping me make Thanksgiving dinner," he told her.

"Putting me to work, huh?" she asked without missing a beat.

"Absolutely. If you wanna stick around, I'm going to have to," he said, shaking his head in pretend regret.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to learn," she replied, with the same mock regret.

They looked at each other for about three more seconds before they both laughed and started walking again. Whatever the coming year held, they were thankful that they had made it this far. And like Reade said, whatever was in their future, it couldn't _possibly_ be worst that what was already behind them.


End file.
